1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a patch panel structure and, in particular, to a patch panel structure having RJ45 sockets at its two ends for insertion of corresponding RJ45 plugs.
2. Related Art
Cables/lines of a local area network (LAN) are utilized to connect equipments such as a personal computer, a printer, and a facsimile machine. High speed digital signals are used to transmit data between these equipments. Such high performance digital signals are usually transmitted by using a plug-in type connector (ex: RJ11, RJ45, or coaxial plug-in type connector) connected to a printed circuit board. Since there are many computers, servers, printers, and facsimile machines in an office, the cables/lines of the LAN connect all these equipments to a telecom/electrical distribution box.
The connector used in the high speed network is RJ45 (including an RJ45 plug and an RJ45 socket). A commonly used RJ45 connector is a 8P8C connector, wherein 8P indicates 8 positions, and 8C indicates 8 contacts (e.g. gold plated contacts). However, in practical application, only two pairs of lines are in use, the other two pairs of lines can be provided for use by telephone line and equipments such as the facsimile machine. A standard RJ45 cable is 8 pins, which is different from the wiring of the networking distribution box/rack assigned from the telecom distribution box in the server room, and therefore connection/wiring sometimes needs to be made by a patch panel.
According to conventional techniques, one end of the patch panel needs a puncture type terminal to make connection with an insulation displacement contact (IDC), and the other end of the patch panel connects the commonly used RJ45 socket. To connect the IDC, professional tools are required in the punch-down connection process to connect the IDC socket. To meet different demands or make cables/lines connect another connection port, another punch-down connection process is required to make connection, which is complicated and time-consuming.
In view of the foregoing, the inventor made various studies to improve the above-mentioned problems to realize the improvements by inventing the present invention.